KaKa

Everyone talks about how much we will miss Owen when he leaves, but as far as I can remember we have always scored goals when he has been out. Owen in a 4-4-2 has been a disaster since Shearer left. I sincerely hope that oughton is in kinnear's ear right now about how effective the 4-3-3 was for us last season as it is our best possible option.

Dawson, Jenas and Woodgate shocking defending.

That's the worst thing I've heard since HTT told me Ashton was better than Torres. Ashton better than Torres?! What?! Anyway, back to what I said. Doyle would be a good, affordable alternative who is better on the ball and running at people, which we could do with. He's also a decent finisher.

If Owen wants to leave just get in Kevin Doyle as a replacement if we want a similar sort. Doyle is too good for the championship. Very good striker who would actually be a better fit than Owen.

How anyone could have expected any of our players to improve in the last few years is beyond me. People talk about Martins improving, but has anyone in the tea improved in his time here?

Undefeated with Bassong as a starter but I'm going for Shay. He's been great recently and him tellign Spurs where to go was an added bonus. Shay Given.

Man City are embarrassing themselves when there really isn't any need for it. So many good attainable players out there. No need to go overboard chasing those that are already at the very top clubs. Looking like they are going to be even more despicable than Chelsea, which is quite hard to believe. Awful.

Gabri unhappy at Ajax. One of the ones Kinnear might be after?

Disclaimer: It is not my intention to have a go at Taylor. In response to the article maybe I should be a world class scout then, because I'll tell you what, after watching Bassong's first appearance in the summer I could tell he was a better defender than Taylor. 3 things stood out immediately. More strength, pace and most importantly excellent balance. You just never see him stumbling or losing his feet. Not looking to knock Taylor here, but in comparison, I'm still not sure what exactly Taylor does well. I really don't know what these coaches amd managers are watching everyday in training, if Bassong has caught them by surprise this much. At least they are recognizing how good he has been. Hopefully he keeps his place as he deserves to and isn't shunted to left back or dropped.

Taylor is a decent squad player IMO, but Bassong has the shirt for now, surely? I am so nervous about what will happen when Taylor is fit. I don't even want to think about it. Just enjoying Bassong's performances while I can.

To answer the question directly ... Bassong can and Taylor can't. Simple as that really.

I know Owen scores goals but when he doesn't he is painful to watch as he really doesn't offer up any kind of other threat to defences. I would be fine with him moving on in January tbh. In fact I think we would be better off for it.

Will probably end up being the best of all the summer signings. Especially taking his age and cost into account. We just have to make sure he isn't ousted from the team when boy wonder returns.

So I take it our pace upfront has literally ground to a halt now. How is it looking?

Viduka and Owen. The pace and athleticism has me quaking in my boots.

Again, I think the issue with Keegan might very well have been down to the players he wanted vs. the players the "system" wanted. It's not necessarily about how much we spend either, but more about the numbers we get in and ultimately, the quality of player. January is going to be fascinating. The board etc. have clearly got a man that they are far more comfortable with and it will be very interesting to see how this affects recruitment.

I still have a feeling that it wasn't necessarily about Ashley not spending money on players, but more about which players were preffered. we will find out in January.

Exactly. Things actually could be a lot worse than what they are as unbelievable as that is.

Also, to be fair to Kinnear, at least he is pushing for new players and recognises tha the squad is not good enough. January is reall huge for us.

It really all comes down to what happens in January. Who will go? Who will come in? If the club does the business in the transfer window it will be a huge lift.

I am shocked no one went for him. O'Neill would have been far better off spending that £12 million on him rather than Milner. Larsson is at least 3 times the player. You really have to wonder wht some of these managers are looking at sometimes. Milner doesn't do a single thing better than Larsson. Not one thing. Crazy. There's no way he's 3 times the player like. I agree. He's at least 5 times the player.

The usual patter is that he only does it against the small teams and doesnt turn up on the big occasions.... HA! If only we had this such over rated player that only performed against the small teams. I happen to love players that consistently slaughter lesser teams that they should be destroying. It's slipping up in these sorts of games, by underestimating the opposition that usually costs teams. Some would argue that it is easier to raise your game when going up against bigger teams and it's a somewhat valid argument. Besides Ronaldo is far and beyond enough of a threat in these supposed big games and is a nuisance to defences everytime. A horrible argument if ever I saw one. Crazy talk.

I love the Ronaldo is overated gang. I know quite a few that are of this species. I guess he's scoring and creating all of those goals by accident right? No wait it's because the team around him is so good right? I don't see Rooney doing it. I don't see Tevez doing it.I don't see Berbatov doing it either. Quit messing around.

I have to say also, I think it is so unfortunate that so many question his attitude now. I always thought it was one of his greatest strengths. He plays "angry" and I mean this in a good way. His fearlessness, determination and single mindedness were traits that helped him take to things so quickly in this league at such a young age, and if he was handled correctly his attitude would have taken him far. However, with the way things went though these same traits were never going to allow him to just accept things and sit on the bench quietly. The guy is hungry which is exactly what you want and he knows he is good enough to be out there on the pitch for us.